Froodee

Living. Blogging.

Adrianne Palicki is NBC’s Wonder Woman

By

As the only actress invited to audition for the part, it was reportedly hers to lose. But David E. Kelley’s instincts must have been spot-on, as he’s awarded actress Adrianne Palicki the lead in his new take on Wonder Woman for NBC.

Palicki is best known for her ongoing roles on Friday Night Lights and Fox’s recent Lone Star. But looking over her resume, it looks like she was always destined for a breakout genre role, with past credits including guest stints on Smallville, Supernatural, the genre-skewering comedy Robot Chicken, and even The WB’s aborted Aquaman pilot.

You can find out more about NBC’s new, L.A.-set Wonder Woman reboot here.

Kelley’s Wonder Woman Not Happening

By

Remember that potential new Wonder Woman TV series from legal eagle writer/producer David E. Kelley? It’s an official no-go.

Kelley got as far as writing a pilot script and shopping it around to all five broadcast networks, but for varying reasons, none of them were able to give him a greenlight. Their reasons were largely political or mechanical:

  • ABC had to pass on DC Comics’ leading lady because ABC’s owner Disney now also owns DC’s chief competitor, Marvel Comics, with whom the alphabet network is currently developing Hulk and AKA Jessica Jones.
  • CBS reportedly came the closest to signing on, but its executives couldn’t come to a consensus on taking the plunge.
  • The CW, which would arguably be the best fit for the show — since DC and The CW are both owned by Warner Bros., and CW has already proven it can find success with a DC Comics superhero — can’t afford the project’s effects-heavy budget.
  • Fox said no because it wasn’t a good fit there.
  • NBC might have been able to give the show a suitable home, but everything is in a wild state of flux there due to its changing of the guard.

Since most of the reasons were rooted in timing issues, Kelley is considering letting the project cool for a while and then shopping it again at a later date.

Wonder Woman Returning to TV

By

Wonder Woman, arguably the most famous female superhero in the world, is coming back to the small screen — and she comes courtesy of pretty much the last person you’d expect: David E. Kelley.

Kelley is best known for his law firm dramas, including Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, and L.A. Law. He’s also the man who gave the world Doogie Howser, Picket Fences, and Chicago Hope. A superhero drama doesn’t exactly sound like his forté, yet his shows have continually given new twists to standard TV formulas — such as teenage-doctor Doogie, and Ally McBeal’s imagination come-to-life.

I’m deeply curious as to what Kelley’s take on the character will be. Will he go the Smallville route, and show us a teenage Diana Prince? Or will he find some modern occupation for the Amazonian princess to occupy as her day job? A lawyer or reporter, perhaps? (Boy, I hope not.) His pilot script will be circulating the networks soon, looking for a pickup.

Hollywood has been trying to produce a modern, live-action take on Wonder Woman for years, most notably with Joss Whedon’s attempt at a big-screen adaptation, which eventually fell apart. Other DC Comics characters have successfully made the transition to live action (Smallville, The Dark Knight), yet Wonder Woman still languishes without a human actress to bring her to life.

I think the main problem is that no one in Hollywood really knows or understands who Wonder Woman is, or what she’s about. Superman is the misfit, the alien raised as a human. Batman is the vigilante, defined by the murder of his parents. Wonder Woman has always lacked that defining hook, that thing that audiences can relate to. She’s got the lasso, the tiara, and the wrist cuffs, but that’s all she really brings to the table. (Aside from a murky backstory about being an Amazonian princess sent as an ambassador to the outside world that’s been rebooted about ten thousand times in the comic book.)

The Lynda Carter series remains the best-known version, but a smart developer would see Wonder Woman as a blank slate who’s still waiting for that defining live-action incarnation of the character.

David E. Kelley drama to NBC

By

I haven’t heard anything new from David E. Kelley so I was thrilled to read that he has signed on with NBC to do a legal drama.

The new show will reportedly be about a father and a daughter, both of whom are lawyers.

This new series will be Kelley’s first with NBC. Most of his shows have either been with ABC or with Fox.

Kelley also had success at CBS in the mid-1990s, with “Chicago Hope” and “Picket Fences.”